The Dog Walker

In Thomson’s busy fifth Detective’s Daughter mystery (after The House with No Rooms), part-time sleuth Stella Darnell, who owns a cleaning company in London called Clean Slate, takes on a 29-year-old missing person’s case. In January 1987, Helen Honeysett, young, pretty, and recently married, disappeared after going for a run with her dog. Only the dog returned. The horrendous aftermath, which included murder, suicide, betrayal, and obsession, changed the lives of the residents of five cottages on a towpath alongside the River Thames. In 2016, Stella and her assistant, Jack Harmon, investigate. They discover that as dogs belonging to the residents died over the decades, new ones were acquired. Who was walking which dog and who saw them becomes crucial. Readers will struggle to keep track of the many people and their pets, not to mention the ghosts that some characters claim to see. By the end, not everyone will feel it was worth the effort. Agent: Philippa Brewster, Georgina Capel Associates (U.K.). (July)